Glass half full

Chris Christensen wanted to delay getting “a real job” with a suit and a cubicle. At least that's the joke version of why the Cedar Rapids native became a winemaker in California.

In truth, it's the combination of craftsmanship and science - two things Christensen loves - that piqued his interest.

“I've built furniture all my life and was interested in chemistry in school,” Christensen says during a recent phone interview. “Unfortunately, I'm not good enough at either one to make a career of it.”

So when he was offered an internship at Gallo of Sonoma after graduating from Stanford University with a degree in communication, Christensen took it.

That six-month internship led to another, then another and another. In eight years, he worked at nine different wineries; eight in Sonoma County, Calif., and one at BK Wines in rural South Australia.

It was around the 2009 harvest that Christensen first considered applying everything he'd learned to his own label. He spent the next couple of years planning, working and honing his skills.

“For me, winemaking is not an art form, it's a craft, a trade,” he says. The years of practice paid off. Christensen released his first wine - a Sauvignon Blanc - under his Bodkin Wines label in 2011.

“It was humbling,” Christensen recalls. “This was the product I'd been working for. I'd been working to this moment for eight years.”

It was daunting, too.

“I remember thinking, ‘Wow, I have 77 cases of wine I need to sell,'” he says with a laugh.

Contrary to popular belief, a winemaker doesn't spend his days walking around a vineyard and his evening sampling wines. Christensen calls Bodkin Wines a one man, one dog and a lot of friends operation. He's his accountant, buyer, web designer and public relations director.

And he loves it.

“I want to make wine that can be enjoyed in the here and now,” he says. “I want to make wine for the connoisseurs and the novices. I want my wine to be enjoyed at family events, picnics, barbecues - not hoarded in someone's basement.”

Christensen released three wines in 2012: another Sauvignon Blanc, a Muscat Canelli and a Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc.

The Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc was inspired by a trip Christensen took to New Zealand in 2011.

It is the first of its kind in California and, possibly, the entire United States.

“No one has challenged my claim yet,” Christensen says.

The Bodkin label is on the wine list at Bata's, 1006 Third St. SE. And Christensen's Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc is available at the Hy-Vee Drug Store at 2001 Blairs Ferry Rd. NE. It is the only local store to carry Bodkin Wine.

Bryan Roney, the Hy-Vee store's wine and spirits manager who also worked with Christensen at Hy-Vee in high school, says he's had several tastings with his customers, all with great response.

“I'd say nine out of 10 people who sampled it bought a bottle,” Roney says.

And that's before they learn it's made by a Cedar Rapids native, he adds.

“Local wine isn't as unique as it once was. Iowa has over 100 wineries and 300 vineyards,” Roney says. “Having an Iowa native making the first-ever Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc in the U. S.? That's unique.”

“I want to help people know what wine is,” Christensen says. “It isn't serious. It isn't something that needs to be studied. It's fun. It is meant to be a complement to life's flavors. Who knows? I may inspire someone to take on the business like I did.”